Originally from the Pacific Northwest, I completed an MA in German Literature at the University of Washington in 2001, and a PhD in Sociolinguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. My research interests mainly reside in the field of sociolinguistics: perceptual dialectology, pluricentric languages (with a focus on Austrian German), language standardization and codification, and language variation. In addition to teaching, I enjoy exploring new venues of instructional technology (especially Web 2.0-based), exercising, home brewing, hiking (Ithaca is a dream-come-true for avid hikers!), practicing Anusara yoga, and writing plays. My favorite dog is the dachshund ('der Dackel').
Courses Taught
German 350: Contemporary German-Language Film
German 327: German Conversation and Stylistics
German 303: German Civilization
German 316: Modern German Drama: Controversial Plays of the 20th Century
Linguistics 275: Introduction to Sociolinguistic Inquiry and Methodology
Linguistics 232: Introduction to Linguistics
Ithaca College First Year Seminar: Critical Thought and Expression Across the Curriculum
Ithaca College Honors Seminar: Ithaca Cultural Encounters
Current Projects
The German Language in Austria and South Tirol. LINCOM Europa Academic Publishing. (Still in proposal stage.)
Something to Talk About: Learning English through Text, Technology, Conversation, and Play. Yale University Press. (Still in proposal stage.)
"Students Perceptions of Course-Final Podcast Projects: An Empirical Study" (Article in progress.)
Publications
Kunterbunt und kurz geschrieben. An Interactive German Reader for the Intermediate German Classroom. Yale University Press (November, 2011).
"Hunting Pennies," an essay, in This I Believe III: Personal Philosophies on Fatherhood by Remarkable Men and Women, ed. by Dan Gediman and John Gregory. New York: Henry Holt and Co., (May, 2011).
"An Empirical Study of the Pluricentricity of German: Perceptions of the Standardness Austrian and German Lexical Items." Journal of Germanic Linguistics 23.1 (2011):37–64.
"Clarity in Expectations Still Crucial Even in Technology Age." The Language Educator 5(6), December: 2010.
"The Role of Age in Austrians' Perceptions of the Frequency of Use and Likeability of Lexical Teutonisms and Austriacisms." Folia Linguistica 44/2 (2010): 439–470.
"You, Too, Can Be a Functioning Linguist." Review of William McGregor, Linguistics: An Introduction. In American Speech 84/3: 359-364 (2009).
An Empirical Study of the Pluricentricity of German: Comparing German and Austrian Nationals' Perceptions of the Use, Pleasantness, and Standardness of Austrian Standard and German Standard Lexical Items. Dissertation. University of Vienna, 2007.
" 'Heuer' – Ein wahres Nationalvarietäten-Schibboleth. Eine empirische Studie zur Plurizentrizität des Deutschen." ÖDaF-Mitteilungen, 2/2007.
Exposé of Dissertation, in Verbal: Newsletter des österreichischen Verbandes für Angewandte Linguistik. Vienna: May/June, 2007.
Review of Astrid Kraehenmann, "Quantity and Prosodic Asymmetries in Alemmanic: Syncrhonic and diachronic perspectives," in Diachronica Vol. XXI (2): 426-430 (2004).
Book Notice of M. A. K. Halliday, On Language and Linguistics, in Diachronica Vol. XXI (1): 241-242 (2004).
Lectures and Presentations
The Technology That Unites Us: Using web 2.0 for teaching in the humanities, sciences, and professional domains. Presentation with Amy Frith and Michael Buck at the the 5th Annual Fredonia Conference for Teaching and Learning in Fredonia, NY, Aug. 15th, 2011.
Assigning Podcasts as Course Final Projects. Presentation with Chris Zivalich (Journalism '12) at the annual conference of the International Association for Language Learning with Technology (IALLT) in Irvine, CA, June 23rd, 2011.
PT 2.0: Incorporating Web 2.0 to Enhance Student Learning. Presentation with Prof. Dr. Mike Buck (Physical Therapy) at the Annual Conference of the APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) in New Orleans, LA, February 9th, 2011.
Disentangling the Web: Tips and Resources for Integrating Web 2.0 into the Foreign Language Curriculum. Lecture and Workshop at Linfield College in McMinnville, OR, Oct. 28th, 2010.
Using Video, Music and Film to Enhance the Italian Learning Experience. Workshop, with Prof. Julia Cozzerelli (Ithaca College), at Montclair State University's Italian Symposium, Oct 15th, 2010.
The What/How/Why of Learning via iTunes U: Three Ithaca College Professors' Perspective. Presentation with Mike Buck (Physical Therapy, Ithaca College) and Amy Frith (Nutrition, Ithaca College) at the 4th Annual SUNY Fredonia Teaching & Learning Conference, July 16th, 2010.
Austrian Teachers' Correction Habits of Austrian and German National Variants: An empirical study. Conference paper presented at German Linguistics Annual Conference (GLAC) XVI, April 2010.
Making Web 2.0 Work for You: Pedagogical considerations and practical tips for using social software in the foreign language classroom. Lecture at Western Washington University, April 2010.
College 2.0: An introduction to newer instructional technologies, with a special consideration for language learning courses. Presentation for Ed Tech Day at Ithaca College, March 2010.
Assigning Enhanced Podcasts as Course Final Projects: Reflections on the good, the bad, and the ugly. Co-presentation, with Chris Zivalich (class of '12), for IC Faculty Colloquium Series, March 2010.
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bag Web: Using the latest instructional technology. Lecture and workshop at University of Virgina, October, 2009.
The role of age in Austrians’ perceptions of the frequency of use and likeability of lexical Teutonisms and Austriacisms. Conference paper presented at German Linguistics Annual Conference (GLAC) XV, April 2009.
Podcasting, iTunes U and You: Using web 2.0 resources in your curriculum. Presentation to Ithaca College faculty, May, 2009.
Integrating Podcasts and Videocasts into Your Classroom. Co-presentation with Bryan Alexander from NITLE, October, 2007.
One man's Meerrettich is another man's Kren -- Empirical investigations of the Austrian national variety. Conference paper presented at German Linguistics Annual Conference (GLAC) XIII, Spring 2007.
Dem Einen sein Kren ist dem Anderen sein Meerrettich: Eine Empirische Studie zu Sprachbeurteilungen der deutschen und österreichischen Nationalvarietäten des Deutschen. Lecture at University of Vienna, Summer 2006.
Introduction to Methodological Practices for Empirical Studies in Sociolinguistics. Lecture at University of Vienna, Summer 2006.
„Öschi-Deutsch”— Eine Einführung in das österreichische Standarddeutsch. Lecture at Sommerschule Wust, Summer 2006.
The Dual Nature of German [w]. Conference paper presented with co-author Shannon Dubenion-Smith at German Linguistics Annual Conference (GLAC) XI, Spring 2005.
